Shall I provide you? (And make things worse before making them better?)
Let’s be honest: provocative coaching isn’t for the faint-hearted. It’s not about holding your hand or telling you exactly what you want to hear. If you’re looking for someone to just nod along and agree with everything you say, then I’m not your coach. But if you’re ready to step up, break through your limitations, and truly grow – I’m the coach you need.
And if you’re wondering, “What the heck is provocative coaching?”, it’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s challenging your thinking, poking at your comfort zone, and often making things feel worse before they get better. It’s all about disrupting your current mindset and forcing you to look at things from new perspectives. Yes, it can feel uncomfortable. But that’s where the magic happens.
In fact, if you’re familiar with the work of Japp Hollander in Provocative Coaching: Making Things Better by Making Them Worse, then you already know how powerful this approach can be. The book presents a bold, counterintuitive idea: sometimes, in order to make progress, you need to make things feel worse first. Hollander argues that by temporarily intensifying the discomfort or conflict in a situation, you can trigger real change. This method might sound counterproductive, but it’s rooted in the understanding that growth often comes from disruption.
So, what does provocative coaching actually mean? Simply put, it’s an approach that combines three key components: provocation, humour, and warmth.
Provocation: The first part of the equation is about challenging your thinking. Provocative coaching isn’t about tiptoeing around the tough stuff. It’s about shaking things up and encouraging you to see situations from a different angle. I’ll ask uncomfortable questions and push you to examine things you might rather avoid. I’ll call out your assumptions and challenge your “safe” perspectives, all in the name of getting to the real truth. It’s meant to jolt you into new ways of thinking and disrupt the patterns that are keeping you stuck.
Humour: But here’s the thing – it’s not all just hard-hitting challenges. Humour plays a big role in provocative coaching. It lightens the tension and provides a necessary balance to all that discomfort. Laughing at ourselves and our situations can often reveal the truth in a way that a serious conversation can’t. It brings relief, allows for vulnerability, and helps you take the sting out of the hard truths. Humour helps us not take ourselves too seriouslywhile we work through our struggles.
Warmth: Last but not least, there’s warmth. Provocative coaching might feel intense, but it’s not about making you feel bad or attacking you. I’m here to help, not hurt. My goal is to create a safe space where you feel supported and encouraged to explore the uncomfortable stuff. Warmth ensures that the discomfort doesn’t turn into shame or defensiveness – it’s there to help you reflect, learn, and grow. It's about holding space for you while challenging you to face the tough stuff head-on.
Why Does Provocative Coaching Work?
In Hollander’s model, provocative coaching is all about making people feel uncomfortable so they can see the flaws in their thinking and start challenging their own assumptions. It’s about confronting the things we’d rather avoid and forcing us to deal with the tough stuff head-on.
So why does this work? Because most people – especially high-level leaders and senior teams – are stuck in their own safe, little bubble of confirmation bias. They surround themselves with people who tell them what they want to hear, so they rarely have to face uncomfortable truths. But the problem with this? Nothing changes. The same issues crop up over and over, and progress is stalled.
This is where provocative coaching steps in. By deliberately stirring things up and creating tension, you break the cycle. You force yourself and your team to question the status quo, to push through the discomfort and find the real, raw solutions. In Hollander’s words, you make things worse temporarily to make them better in the long run.
My Signature Coaching Style: Breaking Through the Bullsh*t
When people choose me as their coach or bring me in to work with senior teams, they know one thing for sure: they’re going to get the truth. No sugarcoating, no playing nice. I’m here to poke holes in the narrative, challenge the thinking, and shake things up.
But let’s not pretend that’s easy. It’s often uncomfortable, and it can feel like things are getting worse before they get better. That’s the essence of provocative coaching: intensifying the tension to force a breakthrough. I’ve worked with senior leaders who have been stuck in their ways for years, and the only way to truly shift things was to make them face the uncomfortable, often messy truths about what they were doing (or not doing).
It’s precisely because of this willingness to break through the bullshit that I’m chosen for high-level coaching projects. Senior teams are sick of the same old answers and the endless meetings that don’t lead to change. They want someone who’s going to challenge them, push them, and force them to confront the issues that have been ignored for far too long. And that’s exactly what I do. I don’t allow people to hide behind the status quo. But they know it's safe and my intent is always positive - that's the job of the humour and warmth.
Why Provocative Coaching is Perfect for Leaders and Teams
For senior teams, corporate leaders, and anyone in a position of power, there’s a lot of pressure to always have the answers, to project confidence and control. But here’s the thing: even the best leaders get stuck. They can’t see their own blind spots, and they don’t always have someone in their corner who’s going to tell them the unvarnished truth.
Provocative coaching cuts through the noise. It forces leaders and teams to look at themselves, their methods, and their assumptions in a new light. It makes them uncomfortable in a way that sparks genuine change.
As Hollander suggests, by making things feel worse – by creating a bit of conflict, discomfort, and tension – you open the door to real transformation. The tension becomes the catalyst for growth, creativity, and innovative solutions. It’s exactly what high-level teams need when they’re stuck in their ways or when things feel stale.
Is Provocative Coaching Right for You?
If you’re ready for growth, provocative coaching could be exactly what you need. But I won’t sugarcoat it – it’s not easy. It’s uncomfortable. It’s going to make you question things you’ve never thought about before. But that’s the point. To grow, you have to move beyond your comfort zone, and that’s where I come in.
So, are you ready to break through the bullsh*t, face the tough truths, and challenge your thinking? If you’re serious about change, this approach might be just what you need. Especially if you've tried to work on 'this thing' before and it's not worked or the change just didn't stick.Let’s make things feel a little worse, so we can make them much better in the end.
Ready to crack on? Let’s do it.
